This Week, In Recruiting - Issue 110

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Open Kitchen: Trust Relationships in an AI Dominated World

I have a thesis that artificially generated content will soon overtake human generated content to become the dominant form of information on the Internet.

This is hardly a revelation for anyone who has spent more than a couple minutes on ChatGPT or MidJourney or any of the now thousands of GAI-enabled apps which are taking over the technology landscape. It's not only production speed, but output quality which makes it obvious to all but the most obtuse that the work of digital communication will inevitably migrate from man to machine.

What is more interesting is the secondary impact of this AI takeover. How will we humans respond to the tsunami of GAI content that will ensue? I believe that we will find the output quantity so overwhelming that - regardless of the output quality - we will retreat from open internet and spend more time in spaces where we have given explicit consent for communication to take place.

For recruiters, this has significant implications. Those of us who work in tech recruitment will have already experienced the phenomenon of candidates simply never responding to outreach, because they never check their inboxes, relying instead of their circle of trust relationships to surface up information they need about work opportunities. Defensive behaviour of this type is proof against any kind of technically clever marketing technique, and it will spread to all sectors of the in-demand labour market, as candidates end up dealing with inundated inboxes not with the futility of 'inbox zero' but with the acceptance of 'inbox infinity'.

The pressing objective for all recruiters should be clear: we have to get into, or better yet, build our own circles of trust relationships, so that our communication always gets through, regardless of the quality of it. Think about how you DM your best friends - none of those messages would pass any quality bar - but it doesn't matter because when you have trust, quality of the content itself becomes irrelevant.

How do we do this at scale? How do we build trust relationships in a AI dominated world? This is the topic of today's Open Kitchen.

1. Visibility

The days of recruiters sniping away hidden in the background are over; it was a practice well suited to the pre-internet era, but becoming increasingly untenable when every wave of technology innovation leaves in its wake candidates inundated with exponentially more digital detritus to sort through. How are they meant to sift through it, to know who is good to work with, whose message they are safe to respond to?

(Image Credit: The Decision Lab - Mere Exposure Effect)

The answer is they - we - don't. And so we resort to cognitive shortcuts which give us 'good enough' results and allow us to get on with the day. Mere exposure effect is a well known cognitive bias where we end up feeling more positively for the familiar, simply because it is more familiar. This makes evolutionary sense of course - if we've seen it before and it hasn't caused us any harm, then chances are it is less dangerous than something - or someone - we haven't seen before.

Recruiters need to tap into this cognitive bias; we need to become more visible to the audience we care about. That means fully taking our place on online spaces, sharing our thoughts and our practices, and ensuring that this candidate audience - whether these are developers, nurses, lawyers or anyone else we work with and for - have a chance to get more familiar with us.

2. Consistency

Visibility is not enough. It gives a chance for trust relationships to form at scale, but does not guarantee that they will. Indeed, we can become very familiar with some people who we end up deeply distrusting, because their behaviour is inconsistent ('fair weather friend') or incongruent with their professed values (hypocrite).

Being consistent and congruent are the dual keys to building trust relationships. That means when you first start becoming more visible, you have to keep being visible. When I first started writing a newsletter, I remembered a friend of my saying that 'people were trusting you with their attention'. She was absolutely right. People were giving me something precious, of high demand, a finite resource. And so if you do manage to get people to follow or subscribe or connect, you are making a commitment to reward them for it.

This means pressure on capacity and I don't pretend this to be a casual undertaking. I understand that people have jobs to do and as recruiters, we are often maxed out as it is. So estimating your capacity will determine the most appropriate channel for visibility you use, whether that is a blog post like this or 60 second video on TikTok, or 140 character on Twitter or whatever. The efficiency pay off we hope to achieve down the line is that your engagement rate will go up when people become more familiar with you and begin to trust you for consistently 'being there' for the community. Think of it like the farmer investing in a tractor to plough their field. Yes, they will have to spend time to learn how to drive the tractor but they will reap a more bountiful harvest in a greater efficiency of time, in time.

Note: you don't have to like someone to trust them. There are people in your life today which you may not wish to spend too much time with, and yet they would also be people with whom you can still share a trust relationship. You will find that this is because they are consistent.

3. Transparency

This essay series is called 'Open Kitchen' for a reason - it is a behind-the-scenes view of how I run Recruiting Brainfood. The name was inspired by the modern restaurant look of having the kitchen visible to the patrons who could observe the chefs at work preparing the food they were about to eat. This was a very early form of 'building in public' with the method of increasing trust in the food quality by making the preparation open to theoretical inspection for all.

It's also quite entertaining, people at work cleaning, chopping and cooking things providing a visual spectacle as well as context appropriate and immersive soundscape. The restaurant doesn't have to do much else in terms of user experience other than deliver great food with great service. The delivery of the whole experience is made cheaper by having a kitchen that is open. You can get away with less expense on decor, you don't have to hire a band, you may even get away with less-than-great food if the kitchen is entertaining enough (think Teppanyaki style entertainment).

This is one of the reasons why I have adopted transparency as a way of operating - it is a great way to generate conversational content. Proper marketing is expensive to run and maintain. You usually need a team to do it. For a solo business, it is much more efficient to be 'open with your journey'. There is no need to ideate on content ideas because 'content' is simply a matter of exposing what is actually happening in the work.

For a busy recruiter, I think this is the way. Forget about marketing plans, content strategies, nice logos etc - just be open with your journey and tell us what is going on, good or bad. You might be surprised as to who finds it interesting.

4. Verifiability

LinkedIn are rolling out real verified ID and I was surprised to see that 3/4 of recruiters sampled were in favour of the move. This tells me that we recruiters recognise that distrust is rife online and that verification is a necessary component to social relationships initiated and developed here. In fact, the more signals that the person is who they say they are, the more likely we are going to give a message from them a chance of a response. Platform driven verification is one important element, but so too is social footprint of that person. One positive outcome of being more visible, more consistent and more transparent, is that your become easier to verify from others due to the volume of output you have created. You have a large digital footprint. You are easy to find. It requires less effort on due diligence from the perspective of the candidate before they will make a decision on whether to respond to you or your message.

What does a LinkedIn search come up with when they search your name? Is it an active profile which seems to be enthusiastically engaging in topics which are relevant to the candidate? What does a Google search come up with? For that matter, what does ChatGPT say? The quality of the output from any searches is under our influence because - unless you are celebrity already - the chances are the content that refers to you is most likely going to be created by you. So when you are being visible, consistent and transparent, you are also increasing your verifiability - a critically important component of relationship building especially at the initiation of that relationship.

5. Humanity

I have another theory, which is that extreme personalities are more likely to succeed in the GAI era of the Internet, as the attention economy rewards the sensational over to sober. We have always seen this manifest in the entertainment industry, and as all 'businesses have become media' the same forces will bleed into the work we do too. That said, I think that outrageous works mainly because it is different from the norm, rather than any inherent quality of the outrage. In a world where everybody wears a suit, the guy in the hoodie will be the one who stands out. In a world where everybody wears hoodies, the same guy will need to be wearing a suit in order to stand out.

In the online world, the only way to consistently stand out, is to be ourselves. Who was it that said 'be yourself because everyone else is taken'?. I'm going to say it was Dolly Parton because she is a smart lady, so here is a picture of Dolly Parton.

We share our humanity in common but we also recognise that each of us is a unique individual within that commonality. We delight in discovering this from others, and have a need to express this for ourselves. In the Internet era, we have been taught to be careful to guard our privacy, but this should not come at the expense of claiming our publicity in the AI-enabled era.

It won't come naturally to a lot of us. It didn't come naturally for me. But as the world moves toward integration with the machines, we will seek to reaffirm our humanity with other humans more than ever before. And it is the recruiters who enable this affirmation with their candidate communities who will be the ones which will succeed in the next era of the Internet.

If you want to learn how to build audience online I am hosting free workshop this Thursday at 4pm BST. Fill in this typeform if you can make it and want to be involved.

Now, out of the kitchen, onto the lounge ??

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What's in the News?

SmartRecruiters appoint Michael DeSimone as new CEO

Swapping out your CEO is never an easy task, but sometimes a requirement to take the company to the next level. SmartRecruiters made the move and have hired for pedigree in Michael DeSimone, who previously led SaaS businesses ShopKeep, BorderFree and LightSpeed Commerce. Good luck to the Smartians out there, lets see where we go - read about it here

Workable roll out HRIS

Smart thinking and doing from Workable, who have been on a tear in significant product releases this year. All in one solution for companies looking to hire and manage employers, cool explainer video tells all. Available on hiring plans, so all users will be able to have a look.

Pera raise €5.5 Million

Netherlands based predictive hiring startup gets its first significant piece of investment to expand to the Benelux and UK markets. Expect to see a lot more of this company in the next 12 months. Press release here

If you are a recruitment service provider or technology business and have any news to share,?comment below,?this is your application to get into next week's addition of This Week, In Recruiting. Make sure to?@ mention me so that I see it

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What's Going On?

Big List of Recruitment & HR Events to Attend in 2023

Updated again folks. Make sure you keep adding your events to this. Meanwhile, bookmark the Big List of Recruitment & HR Events in 2023 - it is updated and cleaned out every week. Going to and holding an event which isn't appearing on this spreadsheet? Add it to the?bottom of the sheet?and I will merge it in.

Building A Better Candidate Experience with Automation, Tues 25th April, 11.00am BST

Marie Evart, the Co-Founder and Community Manager of RecruitLab, moderates this webinar and will take us through the concepts and techniques to radically upgrade candidate experience using technology. We can't do it otherwise! Register here

Unleash America, 26-27th April, Caesars Forum, Las Vegas, USA

It's one of the biggest HR events and fantastic to see it return with such a bang after what has been the worst possible market conditions for events businesses of this scale. See the great and the good, and have a great time in Vegas. Tickets?here.

Using AI for Future Recruitment, Weds 26th April, 12pm BST / 1pm SAST

It's always a pleasure to share a conversation with Jane Moors. Looking forward to speaking with Jane and all of the members of the OuterBox community who can attend this session. We're talking AI in recruiting -r egister here

Meeting ID: 813 9078 8061

Passcode: 116121

ED&I - It's time to stop talking about it, Thursday 27th April, 2pm BST

Neil Armstrong, CEO of Tribepad leads us through the most recent research conducted by the company on the racial, accent and regional bias. Really interesting report which I have posted about before, will be fascinating to watch Neil talk us through it. Register here

AI + Data Visibility, Thursday 27th April, 5pm BST

Kind of sad that this is the end of what has been an amazing collaboration with Metaview - how AI impacts recruiting, examined in different phases of the recruiting process! This final show will be about how AI changes how we need to think about data, and unlocks the potential of extracting all the data from different systems into a usable form for HR decision making. Panellists couldn't be more stellar - it's?Kevin Wheeler, Founder (Future of Talent Institute),?Manjuri Sinha, Global Director of Talent Acquisition (OLX) and?Dr. Magdalena Masluk-Meller, Talent Intelligence Practice (SAP). Don't miss this folks - register?here

Brainfood Live On Air - Ep203 - How to Set Up a Talent Analytics Function, Friday 28th April, 2pm BST

Excited to have this conversation with you, talking Talent Analytics with a load of expert practitioners who have had experience of setting up, operating and / or leading Talent Analytics functions. We're with Piret Luts, Global Head of Talent Analytics (Nortal), Facundo Tripodi, People Analytics Senior Manager (Medallia) & Allie Bleier, People Analytics Consulting Lead - register here

Discover the Secrets to Hiring Top Talent from Central and Eastern Europe: Tues 2nd May, 4pm BST

Two parter with our friends Lundi, where we will take the virtual tour concept to the next level. We're going to visit Central and Eastern Europe with Jane Funk, VP of People (Armoury) and Kinnon Yee, Senior Technical Support Manager (Armoury) to explore what it takes to succeed to hiring in CEE. Jonathan Romley, CEO (Lundi) in the co-pilot seat. Register here

What is Recruitment Operational Efficiency? Thurs 18th May, 10am EST / 3pm BST

Excited to kick off a four part series with our friends at Cronofy. Our focus is going to be on 'recruitment operational efficiency' - what is it, how to audit it, how to improve it and how to measure the improvement. If you are a recruitment leader - or have aspirations to be one - this is the series for you. We're with the legendary Allyn Bailey, Executive Director of Hiring Success (SmartRecruiters) and Mark Harbottle, Head of Talent (Cronofy) for this show. Register here

If you have an event, webinar or podcast going on next week and want it featured on next week's newsletter,?comment below?with the link and event details. Don't forget to at mention me so that I see it

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Whose Story?

It's Ruth Penfold-Brown, Founder of Bloom, the leadership accelerator for women.

I can't remember when I first met Ruth. It was certainly when we were both doing different things. Working with Ruth on this story was a great way to reconnect with a person you should have never lost touch with. I asked Ruth 20 Questions - here are her answers

If you would like to take part in this exercise the join the mighty members of the Brainfood Tribune, comment below and say so. This is a project which is open for any member of the recruitment and HR communities to take part

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Whose Available?

Recruiters remain disproportionately impacted by lay offs....and why wouldn't we be? What is important now is to make sure that you get connected with companies that are actively hiring for recruiters, and you can do that by joining Brainfood Talent Community. It's free, confidential and open only to approved employers. If you're hiring for recruiters or HR staff, apply for a free company account and get access?here, using this code 'BTCFREE' for 100% usage. If you're a recruiter or HR person looking for work, you can apply?here, and increase your exposure to employers vetted by me!

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Who's Posting?

Big List of Places to Post Jobs (Globally)

500+ job boards, community spaces and marketplaces where you can post jobs you are hiring for, filtered by over 50 countries. This spreadsheet is ideal for those of you who are hiring internationally for specific locations and want to connect with local job boards and providers. Crowdsourced, so open for anyone to edit and update. Bookmark it?here?folks.

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Who's Moving?

Lisa Scales joins Royal Mail as Head of Talent Acquisition after 3 years with Nestlé. What an incredible job - 130,000 employees at Royal Mail, this has got to be one of the big jobs in UK TA. Can't think of a better or bigger person to take this on than Lisa. Need to get a Brainfood Live on this - another 'Recruitment Leadership in a Mega Scale Org' show

Marie Gannau joins Oodrive as Chief Marketing Officer. Great to see Marie back stay in the Worktech space, albeit on in more oblique way! I first met Marie back in the EASYRECRUE days before acquisition and exit to iCIMS. A pleasure to work with you Marie - congrats on the new role!

Martin Poole joins Pod Point as Head of Recruitment, having previously worked RPO side with Scede on a number of tech scale up businesses and before then with BJSS. The oscillation between in-house and embedded I think will become a regular feature of recruitment going forward - a great way to build and transfer skills and knowledge!

S?ren Soln?s joins Brightmill as Country Manager, leaving K2 Search after over a decade of service. I think I still owe you a dinner from a decade ago S?ren, so I hope I will one day find myself back in Copenhagen so we can celebrate over it. Good luck in this next chapter ??

Josh Akers joins CNect has Chief Strategy Officer. There are not many people who know the recruitment technology domain like Josh. This is the sort of hire which will have business changing impact. Good luck hombre - hope we can catch up again soon.

Alan Price joins Deel as Global Head of Talent Acquisition, having previously led TA functions at mega scale ups like Wolt, ofo and Dott. Industry shift from micro mobility to payments will be a super interesting challenge - another Brainfood Live topic of the future perhaps?

Finally, some promotions to celebrate: Shannon Curtis, goes up to Director of Talent at K Health and my good mate and smartest-guy-in-recruiting Felix Wetzel goes up to VP Product Management at Cielo Talent - congratulations both!

If you have made a senior exec appointment to your business,?and feel the wider community needs to know about it,?comment below?with the details and see it featured in next weeks issue.?Don't forget to @ mention me in it so that I see it

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What Are You Doing?

Katrina Zlateva-Bowles joins ZINC VC as coach. Two things here - firstly, great that VC's are getting on board with the idea that founders need support(!) and secondly love to see experienced HR pro's operating increasingly in Fractional roles. Are employers starting to become more flexible with job design? You got to hope so.

Deb Andrychuk joins HR.com as Future of Talent Advisory Board Member. I believe HR.com is the world's most popular online resource for HR so fantastic to see them tool up with more senior level expertise.

Sergey Zimpel makes it official, becoming a member of TA Crunch, what looks like an exciting development in the community space in Germany. Hope the launch party went well man, love to see the events scene pick back up again in Berlin!

If you are doing something new,?comment below?with what it is and share a link to where you want people to go. Don't forget to mention me in it so that I see it

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End Notes

One of the cool things about being in a big city are the smaller, invite only events that might be going round. Seems like 2-3 per week are happening, and whilst I can't get to every one, I do think that they are a welcome addition to the events scene, and a nice complement to the public events which are also currently in full flow. If you're hosting one of these, please do let me know - I would be happy to promote if public or invite a few people on your behalf if you think they might get or add value.

Have a great week everybody

Hung

Hung Lee is the curator of?Recruiting Brainfood, and now This Week In Recruiting. Subscribe to both if you are into recruiting or HR or just interested in world of work.